Status of proposals for gun control legislation

Status of proposals for curbing gun violence announced earlier this year by President Barack Obama:

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NEEDS CONGRESSIONAL ACTION:

-A divided Senate Judiciary Committee approved by a 10-8 vote Tuesday a Democratic bill expanding required federal background checks to nearly all gun purchases. The bill, whose chief sponsor was Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had the support of all Democrats on the subcommittee and each Republican opposed it.

The background check measure would expand the requirement to firearms sales between private individuals, such as those that occur at gun shows. Currently, the checks are required only for sales by federally licensed firearms dealers.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has said that 40 percent of gun sales are conducted with no criminal background check, such as at gun shows and by private sellers over the Internet or through classified ads. Obama said there should be exceptions for cases like certain transfers among family members and temporary transfers for hunting purposes.

- Reinstating the assault weapons ban. A 10-year ban on high-grade, military-style weapons expired in 2004. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., says such a ban might clear the Senate but doubts it could get through the House. A vote on renewing the assault weapons ban in legislation proposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., was postponed until Thursday.

- Renewing a 10-round limit on the size of ammunition magazines. Part of Feinstein bill that will be considered Thursday.

- Senate confirmation of a director for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The agency has been run by an acting director, Todd Jones, whom Obama will nominate to become director.

- Last Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-7 for a measure by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to increase federal penalties to up to 25 years in prison for illegal gun trafficking and for those purchasing firearms for criminals or others barred from having them.

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EXECUTIVE ORDER:

- Address legal barriers in health laws that bar some states from making available information about people who are prohibited from having guns.

- Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.